Main menu

Tow Truck Driver Denies Service To Sanders Supporter

A tow trucking company owner reportedly left a disabled woman stranded on a highway because she supported Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Cassandra McWade, 25, was driving home along the I-26 in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 2 when she got into a car accident, the Huffington Post reported. First responders moved her vehicle to the side of the road and she waited for help.

Kenneth Shupe, 51, drove his tow truck to the scene. He was getting ready to assist McWade when he noticed something that made him change his mind.

"I’m a conservative Christian, I’ve just drawn a line in the sand," Shupe said. "I’m not going to associate or conduct business with them."

What Shupe didn’t know was that McWade was disabled.

McWade has psoriatic arthritis, impaired mobility, early stage Crohn’s disease, severe fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. She collects disability payments as a result of her conditions.

"I was in a little bit of a shock and definitely a little scared," she said.

Shupe said he left McWade in a “very safe area.” He said he was unaware of McWade’s disability but admitted that he still wouldn’t have helped her had he known.

"There’s a huge difference between being disabled and drawing disability," he said.

However, Shupe said he would have waited with McWade for another service to arrive had he known about her disabilities.

But according to McWade, her handicap placard was clearly hanging from her rearview mirror. She said she waited another two hours on the side of the interstate for help to arrive. She couldn’t lift the hood of her own car because of back problems.

“I was dependent on anybody who was willing to help me, completely dependent,” she said.

McWade’s mother, Kelle McWade was outraged. She took to Facebook to slam Shupe and his company. She wrote, according to Fox Carolina:

Heads up, friends.... Cass had a wreck in Asheville yesterday. She is fine, but the car was not driveable. We called our mechanic who was tied up in Easley at the time, so he sent ShupeeMax Towing to get her.

Kenneth Shupee drove from Travelers Rest to Asheville, hooked up her car, and when he went around to the back, he came back and told her that he wouldn't tow her because she had a Bernie sticker on the back of the car.

HE LEFT HER ON THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE IN NC, and DROVE AWAY. Spread this bigot's story far & wide. Btw, I'm guessing he's a Trump supporter. The only difference is that the Don would have taken the money, because he at least realizes that liberals' money spends just the same as anyone else's. Dumb [expletive] cost himself money driving all the way to Asheville & back for nothing. [Expletive].

Still, Shupe defended his decision, adding that he also wouldn’t have helped a person if they had Hillary Clinton stickers on their car, the Huffington Post noted.

“I have the same principles there,” he said.

Despite the controversy, Greenville Attorney Steve Sumner said Shupe did not break any laws by not helping McWade, Fox Carolina reported. He said that political affiliation is a not a protected class like race, sexuality and religion.

"As long as there is no contract between the driver and the tow truck company then there is no legal obligation for the tow truck company to pick her up," Sumner told Fox Carolina.